Stuart/Hanover capsule history

Subject: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 01 Dec 97 - 11:50 PM

Since there were questions about the history of the Stuarts and the Hanoverians, which is the background to so many British and Irish folk songs, I thought people might be interested in this sketch. If you get confused by the genealogy, try the British royal-family tree.

James II, of the house of Stuart, the legitimate king of England, seems to have been a Catholic--secretly, because of the powerful anti-Catholic feeling in England then. He had two daughters by his first wife, a Protestant: Anne and Mary. Later he married a Catholic, and in 1688 she bore him a son, also James. The prospect of a Catholic heir (and the appointment of a Catholic Lord Lieutenant of Ireland--see notes to "Lilli Burlero" in the DT) so alarmed powerful Protestant lords that they looked for someone to replace James. There was a perfect candidate: his daughter Mary was married to Prince William of Orange, the ruler of the Netherlands. William was James’s nephew (yes, he and Mary were first cousins), an able ruler and general, and a thorough Protestant.

The Protestant lords invited William and Mary to rule England. When they landed, King James fled to Ireland, where many of the Catholic Irish supported him. King William pursued him and his British army was joined by many Ulster Scots (Protestants living in Ireland). These latter were nicknamed "Orangemen" after William’s principality. William’s army won the ensuing campaign (the victory that the Orangemen remembered best was the battle of the Boyne), and James fled to France. His son James maintained his claim to the throne; he was known as the "Old Pretender". Back in England, Parliament passed a Bill of Rights that, along with more democratic provisions, barred any Catholic from assuming the throne.

This usurpation was named, by the winners, the "Glorious Revolution".

Mary died without children, and when William died later, the monarchy passed to Mary’s sister, Anne Stuart. When Queen Anne died without children in 1714, however, there was a shortage of Protestant heirs. Parliament decided to give the throne to George, the Elector of Hanover, a great-grandson (in the female line) of King Charles I and thus a second cousin of William, Mary, and Anne. He was Protestant and a prince, but he spoke no English.

This was too much for many of the Scots, who had long supported the Scottish Stuart family, Catholic or not. These "Jacobites" ("James" is a version of "Jacob") did not stop at satirical songs about "Geordie" (the Scottish nickname for George), but rebelled in 1715 on behalf of the Old Pretender. The rebellion was put down. A second Jacobite rebellion, led by James’s son Charles ("Bonnie Prince Charlie" or the "Young Pretender") in 1745, was also put down. Charles died without children (if memory serves, he eventually became a Catholic clergyman), and so Jacobitism is now, in the words of Robertson Davies, "that most lost of all lost causes". If any Jacobites are left, they might reply in the words of Tom Lehrer (about the Spanish Civil War), "He may have won all the battles,/ But we had all the good songs!"

Any thoughts? Suggestions? References? (Other than going to the library and looking up "History--England".)

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: rastrelnikov
Date: 02 Dec 97 - 12:34 AM

I feel like such a dolt for only knowing half of this for so long. Thanks, Jerry!

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 02 Dec 97 - 10:38 AM

I should have looked before I leapt. A few corrections will follow.

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: Jon W.
Date: 02 Dec 97 - 11:39 AM

Rastrelnikov, I had the problem of double posting some time ago and found out that it is caused by clicking the reload button on Netscape toolbar. If you want to refresh the threads, just click the "show threads" button on the forum page.

Jerry, thanks for the information. I have the unfortunate habit of assuming folksongs accurately reflect history--and then assuming that I understand the folk songs--so information like yours helps me understand both better.

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: Murray
Date: 02 Dec 97 - 05:26 PM

One correction--it wasn't Charles who became a clergyman, it was his brother Henry, Cardinal York (1725-1807)--no issue, of course!

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 02 Dec 97 - 11:12 PM

Thanks for the correction, Murray! Here are some others. (This will prevent Jon from developing the unfortunate habit of assuming my postings accurately reflect history.)

When the Glorious Revolution happened, James II fled from England to France. In 1690 (after the Bill of Rights and stuff) he returned to lead a rebellion in Ireland. William's campaign against him included a victory at the Boyne and forced James back to France, but did not go all William's way.

The selection of George I did not take place after Anne's death. Instead, it was after her last surviving child died in 1700 (during William's reign--Mary had died, so it was clear Anne would be the heir). In 1701, Parliament settled the inheritance on the Electors of Hanover.

I left out that in 1707 Parliament passed the Act of Union, making England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland a single country. The following year, James the Young Pretender landed in Scotland, apparently hoping to start a rebellion. As he left four days later, I guess it didn’t work out.

Prince Charles’s 1745 rebellion, "the Forty-Five", was more of a threat to the "wee wee German lairdie" than I made it sound. He won a couple of battles (and lost a couple) before his decisive defeat at Culloden. If you want to find Jacobite and Scots Nationalist sympathies on the Web, or just want more information, "Culloden" seems like a useful place to start. (James’s serious rebellion of 1715 is called "the Fifteen", by the way.)

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: Jon W.
Date: 03 Dec 97 - 11:22 AM

"The following year, James the Young Pretender landed in Scotland,..."

Jerry, surely you meant to write "James the Old Pretender." Bonny Prince Charlie was the Young Pretender, and also he was known as the Young Chevalier. Right? There is a song that goes "Cherlie he's my darlin', my darlin', my darlin'; Cherlie he's my darlin', the Young Chevalier."

There I go learning my history from folksongs again.

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: Bruce O.
Date: 03 Dec 97 - 12:17 PM

You've got to be a little careful about deriving your history from folksongs. Many are descendents of broadside ballads, and few of these were politically neutral.

There are several songs on the Glorious Revolution in my internet broadside ballad index. Search on James, William, Ireland, and Protestant. There are more on the seige and relief of London-derry, and several more concerning the subsequent fighting in Flanders. But note, all are from the English point of view, even the figurative lamentations of James II.

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: judy
Date: 03 Dec 97 - 04:50 PM

Great info on this thread for us'n what only care about singin' an' don't go in for ancient heavy politics.

It's nice to understand where the "trad" writers were coming from.

thanx
judy

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 03 Dec 97 - 05:42 PM

Oops. Right, "James the Old Pretender". Incidentally, what's in history books can be biased or even inaccurate too. I haven't tried hard to check anything I've written (and I'm not sure I'd know how).

Subject: RE: Stuart/Hanover capsule history
From: Nonie Rider
Date: 03 Dec 97 - 06:01 PM

Jerry said "Incidentally, what's in history books can be biased or even inaccurate too."

Yup! That's why I rely on Sellars & Yateman's 1066 AND ALL THAT for *all* my history needs!

(Actually, for a Yank who didn't grow up on the real thing, it's hilarious to start from the parody and slowly find out what each bit is based on, from the Venomous Bead to the Old Suspender, and not forgetting the Picts, or Painted People (see the Black Watch, the Red Comyn, and Douglasses of all colors).